Pineapple Ice Cream
by Lollipopdiego
Summary: When Kai is bored, he takes Mary to the beach. It's not like there's anyone else to play with anyways. An afternoon eating pineapple ice cream brings two kids to an unlikely friendship. An entry for the Village Square Contest: Childhood.


**Village Square Contest: Childhood. **

**Mary and Kai is the best crack pairing, don't you think? This is humor because I couldn't figure out what other catagory this stood in. It's mosty friendship, and I think it's cute. **

**I chose The Hobbit for the book Mary is reading, because I was reading it and a fourth grader came up to me and said, "That is boring." Inspiration struck there. I personally LOVE The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings, so don't be offended. **

**I don't own Harvest Moon, or The Hobbit. **

Pineapple Ice Cream

"I…hate…this," Mary whispers, head hitting on the table into her hands. "…the torture…is…too…much."

_The Hobbit_ is the most uninteresting book eight year old Mary has ever attempted to read. Progressing on the words bit by bit for the past week, little Mary has only finished sixty-two pages of the book. Her father lent to the book to her, saying, "Oh, Mary, you _must _read this novel! Its title is _The Hobbit, _and I presume it is the best book ever written! Why, they're even filming a movie about it!" Rarely awarding attention to his only child, you immediately are correct that Mary desires to impress her father.

Groaning, Mary pushes up her large circular frames. Why did she agree to do this? It is torture, words dragging on and so forth. Complex sentences weave together, mixing up her poor brain. Not meaning to offend J.R.R. Tolkien but _The Hobbit _is not a suitable reading level for eight year olds. It's more for adults, likewise, her father. Picking up the paperback, Mary resumes her reading.

"Suddenly a sword flashed in its own light. Bilbo saw it go right through Great Goblin as he stood dumbfounded in the middle of his rage. He fell dead, and the goblin soldiers fled before the sword shrieking into the darkness."

Sighing, her eyes wander off the page. How can a sword flash in its own light? Somehow perhaps the sword glows, emitting a ponderous power, slicing through the Great Goblin. Hence the novel a fantasy, shining swords that move by themselves are utterly ridiculous! Swords simply do not battle and kill creatures without a beholder. In a fantasy words for all that one knows that sword may be enchanted. However in the book, there is no clue of such thing, so Mary scoffs at the ideas of magical swords. To be precise, Mary scoffs at the idea of any concept of fantasy. Fantasy is not practical, according to Mary.

She greatly disliked it the thought as soon as she watched Cinderella at the age of three. Fairy Godmothers are positively stupid and mice transforming into horses defends her opinion.

Now you take _The Hobbit, _where its author imagined every single detail about it, and you can see Mary struggling here. Her head cradled in her hands, Mary exhales noisily and continues on to the next paragraph. Just then, the library door swings open before Mary finishes a sentence. Averting her eyes up, Mary says, "Hello," Suddenly she's annoyed, because she intends to be left alone at the moment.

You ask, who is this boy that is making Mary cross and happily distracted from her paperback? Well, his name is Kai, and to explain a long story short, he's annoying. Being the most popular outgoing boy in town (mind you, Kai is the _only _outgoing boy in Mineral Town), Kai occasionally flirts with every girl in his sight. He routinely bothers bookish Mary as she is the only one who does not fall for his handsome charms, and she will never.

Three days into an uneventful summer and he already interceded the library. She should have foreseen this coming; he _does _visit Mary at least once a week. In almost a hiss, Mary asks, "What do you want, Kai?" Never has she acted in such a mood towards Kai, but she need to finish _The Hobbit._ Her father is depending on her.

His reaction is a disapproving frown. The nine year old whines, "Mary, you have to play with me today!" She's taken aback. Kai's weekly doings involve pouring over books to impress her – which is so not happening, disturb her with time wasting comments or questions and inevitable flirting. It disgusts Mary really, because she's currently not looking for a man. Begging her mother to kick Kai out of the library, Mary was disappointed when her mother replied that they required being polite to their customers.

Today Mary made an effort in friendliness.

"And why is that, Kai? In case you haven't noticed, I'm trying to finish _The Hobbit _right now." Mary takes note of her page and promptly shuts it. Oh, how secretly delighted the girl feels for a temporary end of stretching time period of _The Hobbit_.

She's almost disappointed when Kai states, "Because there's nobody else to play with!" Doesn't he know how lonely Mary is herself? Her only friends are Elli, Kai, and hints of Gray after all. Even though she greatly dislikes Kai at the moment, they're still friends…it's complicated. Then he asks her to play because there is no one else around? Insulted, Mary wishes he asked her because he actually would like to play.

Smugly, she says, "What are we going to do, Kai?"

Kai is simply at loss for words. Obviously he did not plan this through. Impulsively he came here, just asking her to accompany him through play. "W-well," he stutters. After thinking for a moment he announces, "We should go to the beach!"

Mary dislikes beaches because of the sand tangling through her hair and nestling in between her toes. It certainly is not a place to read a book especially with disturbing grains rubbing into her eyes. She _was _sure Kai knew that until now. "Sorry, but I'm not into beaches."

"That's why you're coming with me, Mary!"

He catches her there. She has actually only been to the beach once or twice, and she doesn't want to go again with anyone, most likely Kai. Going in general is out of the question. Flustered, she replies, "If my mother says "yes", I'll go with you." Confident her mother will say "no", Mary happily watches Kai head over to her mother.

It's too bad her mother says "yes" instead.

"Ew, Mother, I'm hideous," Mary complains as her mother yanks on her beautiful long black hair. "It's disgusting and ugly – braids are much prettier."

"For Goddess' sakes, Mary, it's not ridiculous. Most people consider it pretty, you know." Another gentle tug when the elastic band winds around her hair and Mary pouts. Just because _Kai _asked her (and her mother's permission) to the beach, Mary's mother is being all fussy.

Fitting Mary into a white tank top and baby pink skirt her mother had squealed, "My little Mary has finally made a friend! I'm so proud of you!" Mary had thought, _Mother, if you actually paid more attention to me you would have saw my friendship with Elli and Kai a long time ago. _She speaks to both of them frequently – even though it's more Kai talking than Mary – and enjoys that.

Mary stares at her exposed skin, a fishy white. _You have dressed me like a doll, Mother. _She wasn't even aware she _owned _a tank top…until now.

Opening the door, her mother says, "Have fun, Mary!"

**()()()()()**

"Ah, so you've decided to play!" Kai greets her without a quick "hello". Grinning and bouncing over to Mary, Kai yells, "We're going to have _so _much fun, Mary!" Fun? Mary hasn't had fun for a lot time. She predicts the last moment was the trip she took with her family five year ago – to Forget Me Not Valley. It was before her father cut himself out of their family. That's what Mary thinks of her father, but she doesn't know what her Mother thinks of him.

Twisting her mouth to the side, Mary regards Kai with disbelief. Can she really have fun with him? Kai's a fun boy! She shakes off the idea and stares into the clear blue horizon. Not much to see only consisting of a ravishing light blue sky and a blinding sun dangling in the air, gradually rising every five minutes. Saltiness stings her nose, fresh and relaxing, yet nauseous at the same time.

Why did the villagers enjoy the beach so much? Can't they see the ocean begins a murky brown at shore, and then stretches in a phase of light jaded green, followed by the Caribbean turquoise? Mary thinks this is strange; in books oceans are always _blue_. There's nothing about golden brown, emerald greens, cerulean blues, whatever other colours that are existing…and oh, my, is that a dark transparent yellow?

Disgusted, Mary turns away. The idea should be illegal! It was probably the farmer's dog having a pleasant relief. Who else would be guilty of the disturbance?

"Hey, Mary!" Kai exclaims, and she glances at him. "I forgot the umbrella! It's so hot…so I'll go get it!" Rushing back into his restaurant, she can hear him hollering, "Hey, Mom! Where's the umbrella?"

Once he's gone Mary immediately props open _The Hobbit _and resumes her reading.

"When Bilbo opened his eyes, he wondered if he; for it was just as dark as with them shut…"

She's determined to finish this book because her father would be pleased. Then Mary asks herself, _Why am I actually reading this book, Mary? It's not all about Father, is it? _

She thinks.

She thinks…while waiting for Kai, then it hits her.

Mary has always finished a book, and she always understands them. There is no way she's going to start being confused by them right now. This isn't about her father…it's about her love of reading. All her life she has been surrounded by the smell of parchment, the feeling of leather, then _The Hobbit _comes along, as well as Kai…and changes that. Even after one day, she senses that after this afternoon, her life will change a lot.

Kai comes back, and he's gaping at her while panting for breath under the weight of his umbrella. "Goddess…Mary…you read those types of books?" When she doesn't answer, he sets down the huge red and white umbrella, assembling the object that can protect the two from sunburns. "Sorry."

Smiling, Mary replies, "It's okay Kai, a few seconds ago, I gave up on it."

He props the umbrella up, and she sees that he is wearing dark blue knee length shorts and a white t-shirt. He changed his outfit from this morning as well. "Why were you reading that book anyways?"

She plops on his behind, landing in soft sand. "My father wanted me to read it," the eight year old sighed.

Mischievously grinning, the nine year old snatches _The Hobbit _out of her hands. "Well you can tell your dad…" Kai chuckles when he waggles the paperback in front of her face swats for it. She jumps on her feet, suddenly annoyed. "…that Kai stole it."

Lunging for him and failing, she gasps, "You wouldn't." Kai raises an eyebrow, silently saying, "You know I would." Screaming and laughing, she chases Kai around, swatting every now and then. After a minute she's still huffing and puffing, where as Kai did not run his hardest – it was more half speed, and Mary isn't athletic…at all.

They're striding at ocean's edge, to Mary's insanity. Kai has hidden her book Goddess knows where while Mary was catching her breath, worn out. She intends to retrieve it by tomorrow because she would not like to lose her father's book.

_If I landed in this water… _Mary thinks, _I'd bring Kai along with me._

_A-ha! _

With the idea in her head, Mary bends down, pointing her skinny arm and saying, "Look, Kai, it's a crab!" There is no sharp clawed little crab; this is only part of Mary's plan to have "revenge" on her friend with the purple bandana.

Kai asks, "What?" and crouches down beside Mary to examine her discovered "crab". Then she uses all of her strength, and with two hands pushes Kai head first into the water.

Taken by surprise, he seems to not have expected a large amount of force from Mary. Surprise evaporates into another naughty idea and Kai grabs Mary hands, dragging her down with him. Yelping, she topples forwards with Kai, landing plat in fortunately, green water with slimy slippery seaweed. A humungous splash and droplets of liquid fly in multiple directions, with Kai and Mary in the midst of it.

First Mary submerges from underneath, coughing and spluttering. Her plan has miserably back fired, but strangely, she's laughing. Clothes soaked to the skin with water and hair drenched, streaming down like a river, Mary makes her way to the sand.

Kai has jumped, breaking the peace for Mary. Beads of liquid shower her, and his purple bandana is slung in his hand. His clothes dripping, he's grinning ear to ear as he walks to dry land. "That was fun, eh, Mary?" he asks, shaking his curly brown head like a wet dog. When fresh splats land on her face, Mary half heartedly punches Kai in the stomach.

"You…" she says while giggling. "…you are truly evil!"

She's opened up to Kai, and Mary realizes this. Never would she call Elli an evil person, or Gray evil. Only Kai, who is now…her best friend, she guesses.

People can really change in a day after all. Kai and Mary, best friends, inseparable, she can imagine this now…while it lasts. Hanging out, eating food, splashing water at the beach…Mary wonders if this friendship can really bloom into something. Not like something, like boyfriend girlfriend, but something as in…best friends. But today they only hung out because there was no one to play with, right? Slightly disappointed, Mary looks at a chortling Kai.

"You can't hurt me!" Kai says. "I have rock hard abs!" he flexes his tanned but not impressive muscles to prove it.

Rolling her eyes, Mary suggests, "Let's go inside, Kai, and get some towels." She's shivering, and cold, wanting to cover up with something thick and fluffy…except her blanket is not in her possession.

"Yeah!"

**()()()()()**

"What happened to you?" his mother is tending to them, covering the two with towels and whipping up a glass of lemonade. Mary accepts her glass gratefully, sipping the cool sweet drink, while Kai asks for pineapple. Currently they are sitting at a table in their shack, settling down. "It's almost as if you pushed each other in the water!" Exchanging glances, Mary smiles while Kai snickers. "…you did, didn't you?" They nod.

Bringing Kai his pineapple, his mother rolls her eyes. "Kai, what did you father tell you?" When he hungrily gobbles it down, she reminds him, "Eat properly, Kai, I don't know how you're going to own this place one day with that attitude."

With his mouth full, he garbles, "That I must act like a gentleman in front of all ladies, and that pineapple is good and I should eat it with joy." Mary almost did a spit take – which is very unusual for her. Kai had to be a gentleman in front of the ladies? How absurd…not to offend anyone, of course.

She sighs and exclaims, "He did not say that about pineapples!" Kai doubles up laughing as his mother leaves the room. Apparently he likes messing with her head.

"Ma, could we please have some pineapple ice cream?" he requests. "I'm in the mood for some!" Turning back to Mary, he says, "It's yummy, because we make it by ourselves, without the city shipping it in! I can't tell you what it is, because the recipe is a secret!"

Mary is amused. Her family has a few secret recipes themselves, but it's not like people visited them for dinner, where as Kai's family owned a popular shack. It's most profitable every summer, because people are perspiring and look for something to cool them down.

It's like the opposite of what Mary is searching for now, something fluffy - a towel, and a refreshing beverage – the lemonade sitting in front of her. She doesn't know what lemonade tastes like, but she's sure that she'll enjoy it. Kai's taste of food is something not to judge in a negative way.

Startling her, Kai says, "Mary, you're my new best friend! We should play more!"

Nodding enthusiastically, she says while beaming, "You're my best friend too!"

Then Kai's mother walks in with two crunchy waffle cones and says, "You two are too cute! Already a day spent together brings you closer!"

While Mary tentatively takes one, Kai grabs it out of his mother's hand, saying quick thanks. They lock eyes, brown on brown, drawing out their tongues and running them over the smooth yellow ice cream. Swallowing the gunk they have drawn, the two continue licking their ice cream, having a staring contest of some sort.

Homemade, she can taste the honey enriched in the inside. Involving pineapple chunks and the shock of sugar, the ice cream is delicious anyways. Swirling on her tongue, syrupy leveled velvety tangs of the sharp fruit causes her to savor the feeling. Never has she tried something as heavenly, sophisticated as this.

After a few minutes, Kai crosses his eyes, and Mary can't take it anymore. Tiny bits of yellow sticky cream splatter within a few centimeters of her cone because she's laughing so hard. Hooting, Kai cries, "I've beat you Mary! No one can beat THE KAI!" Indeed, they were having a staring contest, but she wasn't completely aware of it.

His mother interrupts their laughter. "Kai, I found this book outside behind your umbrella…" she arrives from the front door, holding the red and white umbrella, then handed her son a book titled _The Hobbit. _"Is this yours?"

Shaking his head, Kai replies, "It's Mary's, Mom, she was reading it…" That's where it went! He slides it across the table, and she catches it with pride. Hooray for receiving _The Hobbit _sooner than she thought!

As they finish their ice cream, Gray the blacksmith's grandson bursts in. With his blue hat and piercing ice eyes, he yells, "Kai, where were you the whole afternoon?" His flaming red hair distracts Mary from his gaze on her, which is good, because Gray can be scary when he wants to. He isn't angry now…but for some reason, he's staring at Mary funny, in an expression that says _why he is with her? _

They've started being friends, Gray and Mary. Sometimes he'd come to the library and read, and they'd have small brief talks. One thing that never occurred to the both of them was Kai, Mary, _and _Gray being friends.

Crossing his arms, Gray says, "Me and Elli have been looking for you the whole day! We wanted to play, Kai!" Blushing, Kai looks away from Mary. Gray heads towards the two and says, "Are you going to play with us right now? …Mary can come too!" She is dumbfounded. She remembers what Kai had said to her this morning…

"_Mary, you have to play with me today!" _

"_And why is that, Kai? In case you haven't noticed, I'm trying to finish The Hobbit right now." _

"_Because there's nobody else to play with!"_

Apparently there _were _others to play with…but Kai chose her. Far off she can hear Gray and Kai having a civilized conversation, and Mary is replaying the day in her head. Elegant waves of the ocean, words of _The Hobbit _flowing off the book, addicting pineapple ice cream; it was all…because Kai chose her.

She had never imagined someone like Kai would become friends with her. Adventurous, funny – who will compare him to bookworm Mary? People tend to scoff at her, muttering how odd she is – at least, that's what Elli says. Bubbly Elli with thin short cropped hair, she's also kind, and friends with Mary. There is other village girls who like gossiping about Mary, why, she hasn't even spoke to them before!

Now there's Kai, who has become her best friend after one afternoon spent together. She feels like Kai understand her, in a way her parents don't. The part that Kai interprets with Mary is the adventure within, trouble making lodged deep inside her brain, ways to make her laugh so hard she'll cry, and what ticks her to speak her loudest.

He's something, all right.

Kai and Gray are having a conversation, and she fails to notice, deep in though. It ends with Kai saying, "I…kind…of like her?" Gray smirks while the two blush. Kai's sentence has caught her attention, regrettably. At loss for words, Mary thinks, _he likes me? _He…likes me… Wow, I've never had a boy like me before. How interesting!

It takes a while for Mary to realize that two nine year old boys are waiting for her response. "Interesting," she says. _Now…what do I say? Usually in books, you should say that you like the boy9 as well…but I don't like Kai, I think. _

She's never liked a boy before. She doesn't know what it feels like.

Mary figures that she doesn't need to respond when Kai and Gray laugh. "Good response" Kai beams. Gray pulls his hat over his eyes to hide his smile. Mary thinks it's quite a nice smile, if only he didn't hide it. _What if we all became friends?_

_Why don't we try that? _She asks herself.

"Gray, why don't you grab Elli and join us for our second round of ice cream?" she suggests.

"What a great idea!" Kai whoops. "The four of us eating pineapple ice cream!"

And that's the start of the four's new friendship. Elli, Kai, Gray, and Mary, best friends until the end…after all, it only started with pineapple ice cream.

**Please give me advice in anyway you can. I want to be better at writing. :) This took me two weeks, and I've done my best...except for the crappy ending. Thanks, and good luck to all you Village Square Contestants!**

**Read & Review & Vote! :) **

**~diego**


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